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Re: head bolt retorque follow-up Posted by SWEDECAR [Email]  (#112)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from SWEDECAR) on Thu, 17 Mar 2005 18:10:43
In Reply to: Re: head bolt retorque follow-up, BlueEgg, Thu, 17 Mar 2005 16:33:55 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Sorry I stepped on your toes so badly???????
The valve cover gasket is not "designed" to be reused. The valve cover should not even need to be lifted on these cars since they have hydraulic lifters and no adjustment is needed of valves.
The valve cover is put in place at the factory and it should stay there until it is time to replace a leaking valve cover gasket which will happen sooner or later. It always will, it always have since Saab started to use the rubber O-ring material with the 8 valve H-engine in 81. Even the old cork gaskets had their lifespan.
The first 900s up until 94 had even more problems when the valve cover gasket started to get old since that engine is slanted in the engine compartment and it is always oil sitting up close to the split between valve cover and cylinder head. It dripped right out and onto the exhaust manifold after some years of use.
The newer cars are a little bit better since the engine sits up straight but the material in O-ring gasket is still the same and gets hard and brittle with years and miles.
As for the head bolts. I don't even charge full retail price for them and if you have read all the posts back and forth about the subject you should know that even Saab have acknowledged that it was something wrong with them. I don't think we will ever hear the full truth about it though.
No I'm not a metallurgy expert but I find it really strange that I have had no problems with torquing head bolts for years, even reusing the old bolts and then suddenly in 2001 I try to install a new set of bolts of a "new style" that Saab have come out with earlier and I can't even apply the proper torque (old torque specs) before the bolts give up and start to stretch.
I ask the dealer about it back then and they have not heard of any new torque specs or anything. Just by doing a lot of searching I find out that Saab have in fact lowered the torque specs for the new bolts.
And now years after that we read about seeping head gaskets, mysterious coolant leaks, blown head gaskets and retorque procedures and even a newer bolt released from Saab in 2002. Go figure.
But as I said, you do what you want and since you do know how to get the vale cover off, it is no big deal when the gasket start to leak.
Anders
, Thu, 17 Mar 2005 08:58:03, Thu, 17 Mar 2005 18:10:43 <-- Viewing This Message
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